The technology relates to the field of liquid crystal compositions. Methods for detecting the presence of biological substances and chemical compounds in samples have been an area of continuous development in the field of analytical chemistry and biochemistry. Although ELISA and other immunosorbent assays are widely used methods, they have several disadvantages and there is a need for improvement. Among the desired attributes are: lower cost, less reliance on use of labile, expensive reagents, less complexity in execution, decreased hands-on time required for processing the sample and execution of the assay, minimal technical proficiency for running assays and interpreting results, miniaturization and portability of equipment, automation, and an increase in multiplexing capability.